Breakout: Normandy Deluxe Edition — First Look
L2 Design Group surprised a lot of folks by producing a new version of the classic Avalon Hill wargame Breakout: Normandy. Breakout: Normandy has been out of print for a few years now but is still a very popular game and still sees a regular tournament at WBC. Breakout: Normandy is a board wargame covering the first month of the Normandy campaign in WW2. It is an area movement game based on the system debuted in Storm Over Arnhem and recently seen in Monty’s Gamble.
The new L2 version of the game is known as Breakout: Normandy Deluxe Edition and was produced with the support of Don Greenwood the game’s original designer. Breakout: Normandy was one of those classic games that basically got everything right from the start. It was also originally produced with very nice components. So what does the new Deluxe Edition provide different from the original? Thankfully, besides simply getting the game back in print, not much. The map is 10% larger to accommodate the new 3/4″ counters and incorporates the first week of reinforcement displays. The map itself is the typical L2 heavy foldout stock. The counters are slightly larger but otherwise unchanged. The real change is in the rulebook. The rulebook is all new and is in full color and very attractive. The new rulebook incorporates all official errata to the original game and a few minor rules changes.
Don Greenwood describes the new rule changes in the excellent included designer’s notes. He has focused on the fact that after thousands of plays it became apparent that the Germans have a slight advantage in the game. He also does not like some of the tactics that have resulted. To address those he jettisoned the Victory Point for holding the Advantage. “To compensate the Allies for this loss as well as to address their earlier balance problems, Naval Bombardment Impulse join Air Bombardment Impulses in being ‘free’–which added a staggering 12 Impulses a game to the Allied ledger…. To complete the Allied Aid package, Weather Changes…were made less likely by eliminating their occurrence during air and naval bombardment. And lastly, players can no longer guard against weather changes by using the now non-existent End of Day dice roll modifiers.” That’s it.
If you are a Breakout: Normandy fan you will want this edition if only for the new rulebook. If you never played the game before and you have any interest in WW2 you should give the game a look. Highly recommended.
6mm Sci-Fi Vehicles — Review
We recently picked up some Old Crow 6mm Hammer’s Slammers vehicles and Plasmablast 6mm vehicles. Both lines are very nice and a great addition to any 6mm sci-fi force.
The Old Crow Slammers’ models are cast resin bodies with metal turrets and bits. The resin casting quality is simply the best we have ever seen. The casting is even better than Spartan Games’ models but the vehicles do not have nearly the level of detail of Spartan or ForgeWorld miniatures. But there is almost zero clean up needed for the resin and only a tiny bit needed on the metal bits. [Note: Old Crow sort of went into hibernation. You can try and email them for some items. They seem to have given their 15mm Slammer’s minis to Ainsty Castings.]
As you can see from the photos the models scale well with other 6mm vehicles. The design of the hover models does make them appear a bit large because the hover skirt (plenum chamber) sticks out all around the vehicle but if you look at just the actual body of the vehicle you will see it fits right in with the others. In general a lot of the GZG stuff is a tad small and the GW Epic stuff is a tad large.
We also couldn’t help ourselves from grabbing a few of the Old Crow naval minis. These are also extremely well done resin casts and are quite large. As you can see the Hover Landing Craft can easily carry one or more 6mm vehicles. Now we just need to think up a good scenario for them.
The Plasmablast models are all metal castings and are also extremely well cast. Only the smallest amount of cleanup is needed. Plasmablast has the Progenitor tracked line and the Orbital Combine grav line of models. Both are nice looking, unique, and quite complete lines of units.
As you can see in the photos the Orbital Combine medium grav tank fits in well with the other figures and the heavy grav tank fits even better.
Both companies responded quickly to our order and everything was well packed.
If you are looking for some good rules for 6mm sci-fi look no further than Strike Legion and Gruntz. Both are outstanding sets of rules.
[Updated: 2DEC13]
Napoleon!! — Revisited
It’s been a bit over a year since we last posted about a variety of Napoleonic warfare titles and thought it was about time for an update.
- Battles of Napoleon: The Eagle and the Lion — The bad news here is that the company that actually developed the game has folded. Fantasy Flight Games is only the distributor. This means future updates for the game are certainly in doubt. On the positive side Wings of War was in the same boat and recently got picked up by another company so there is some hope BoN will be saved similarly.
- Napoleon’s War: The 100 Days — Battle Pack 1 and Battle Pack 2 are both available. They include new maps and scenarios but no new figures.
Napoleon’s War II that covers the invasion of Russia should be out soon. - Commands & Colors: Napoleonics — GMT Games released its latest addition to the Commands & Colors line. It is probably the most approachable of any of the Napoleonic titles (NW is just as easy but C&C:N blocks are less fiddly than the NW figures). It is a lot of fun and coming soon is the Spanish Army expansion.
- Waterloo — Warhammer Historical has gotten in on the Napoleonic fun as well with their new Waterloo miniature rules. The rules are a large 288-page hardback book “… representing the forces of France, Britain, Prussia or their allies. This rulebook is focused on the campaign and battle of Waterloo, the climax of the Napoleonic Wars, but the rules within allow you to recreate battles from across the entire period (1792-1815) and even beyond.” We have not seen this yet but it sounds good.
- Black Powder — Rick Priestley and Jervis Johnson, both of GW fame, produced a new set of miniature rules that cover Napoleonic warfare. Specific Napoleonic supplements will be out soon but the 184-page hard back core rulebook covers the basics. The rules are intended for 28mm but easily modified for any scale. They are perhaps not the best choice for a first time Napoleonic gamer but are well done.
- March Attack — Crusader Publishing has also released a new set of easy to play Napoleonic Rules called March Attack.
- Napoleon at War —
Perhaps the most interesting development is Man at War Miniature Games’ release of the new Napoleon at War miniature rules and miniatures line. We have now seen these in person and they are very well done. Man at War seems to be attempting to do for Napleonic warfare what Battlefront did to WW2 mini gaming with Flames of War. The rulebook is extremely well presented — and FoW-like — and the minis are equal to if not nicer than Battlefront. The miniatures are 18mm and are being released in various boxed unit sets. All of this is designed to make Napoleonic gaming easy to get into for the newcomer. It remains to be seen if Man at War will be successful but if you have any interest at all in Napoleonic miniature gaming Napoleon at War is certainly worth a look. We hope to have more soon. The Meeples & Miniatures podcast Episode 79 has a great review of Napoleon at War. Noble Knight Games is one U.S. based distributor we found that carries the NaW line and we found them very responsive.
[Updated: 21OCT11]
Luke’s Bocage — Review
If you are a WW2 miniatures gamer who has ever tried to battle across the fields of Normandy you know you can never have enough bocage. A while back we looked at the Miniature Building Authority Bocage terrain pieces but we needed more. We are huge fans of the WWPD podcast and heard them talk about Luke’s bocage on one of the shows. After hearing about him selling some at a convention we contacted him about getting some for ourselves.
Please be aware that Luke makes his bocage on the side for some extra fun and profit not as a fulltime business. Thus we will leave the details of particular pricing/ordering/composition to him as he may need to adjust them based on circumstances. But basically you simply ask Luke for as many feet of bocage as you wish. The more you buy the more corner pieces, paths, and trees he will throw in. The basic straight sections come in 6″ and 12″ lengths. The stuff is very impressive and well made. Its base is of solid backer board and the stones are a very hard material. On top of that he adds nice flock and foliage (what looks very much like Woodland Scenics Bushes material). Luke’s bocage will easily stand up to repeated play and transport and looks great on the table.
The only possible small negative to Luke’s bocage is that it can perhaps be considered a bit short. If you desire the stereotypical tall bocage of around 10-15 feet in height then please be aware Luke’s is closer to 5-8 feet in scale height. Luke likes the look of the rock and prefers his bocage to represent the average thick barriers found across 
Normandy rather than specifically the tall bocage. As a result, his bocage will not hide a 15mm tank but will put it hull down. This of course has advantages and disadvantages in actual play. Those who want truly high bocage will be disappointed but the lower height does make tight corridors easy to get at and it is a simple matter to just play the terrain as if it was full height. Additionally, it is easy for one to add more foliage and/or trees to make it higher. Luke may even make it higher for you if you ask him.
All in all Luke’s bocage is great stuff and a great value. If you would like to get some for yourself just contact Luke Melia at Luke [at] whatwouldpattondo [dot] net.
[Updated: 9SEP11]
GenCon 2011 Punch List
Well GenCon 2011 is over. We were not there but from all of the various coverage it looked like a good show and had record attendance. Below is a list of all the new goodies we are looking forward to based on the show announcements. Thanks to Russ at the D6 Generation podcast and the Beasts of War for their excellent show coverage.
- Gears of War: The Board Game — We have always been huge Space Hulk fans and the new GoW game looks similar. Initial demo game reports are good and the components are certainly top notch. The D6 Generation have a full review of the game in Episode 86.
- Dust Warfare — After watching AT-43 die we passed on Dust Tactics. But the game has been generally well received and the minis are well done. Dust Warfare is a full blown mini ruleset written by Andy Chambers. If nothing else it will be worth a look.
- Android books — We did not care for FFG’s Android board game but did like the universe it was set in. Now FFG is bringing out two novels, Free Fall and Golem, set in the world of Android.
- Star Trek: Fleet Captains — We almost forgot about this one. WizKids debuted a new board game of exploration and starship combat using unpainted plastic miniatures. We saw some shots of it at the show but never heard any reports on play. It looks interesting. Again, Russ from the D6G snagged a copy — And even painted some ships — and Episode 88 has a nice review of the game (forward to 2hr29min). The rules are available for download.
- Star Wars X-Wing —
FFG got a Star Wars license and will be doing a bunch of products with it. One of the first is X-Wing a tactical space combat game. Many are calling it Wings of War in space but it is really no more similar to it than any other air-to-air combat game. It comes with pre-painted plastic minis (surely with tons of expansions due along soon thereafter) and focuses on fighter-to-fighter combat in the Star Wars universe. Demo game reports were favorable overall and there is certainly more depth to the game not really explored yet by quick demos. But it is meant to be a simple, fast game not any sort of ‘simulation.’ It should be good for some quick fun. We just hope they produce the B-Wing fighter! - Star Wars: The Card Game — Well the world probably needs another Star Wars card game as much as a Wookie needs a razor but we’ll give it a spin.
- 15mm Terrain — Gale Force Nine announced a bunch of new 15mm terrain for Flames of War and the like. The new Desert Oasis is our favorite.
Oddly, even though Steve Jackson Games was at the show, we didn’t hear a peep about the new Ogre 6th edition. We hope this is not a bad sign. [Update: Steve posted an update on the Ogre site, “The status is: Still planned, still the super-fancy as per the prototypes you can see on that page. . . And definitely still not on track for 2011. I warned everyone in May that it might not happen in 2011, and now I can say it definitely won’t. I knew that at the end of June, before I took July off, and I should have shared.”]
[Updated: 10OCT11]
Panzer Corps — Review
The all new follow up to the classic Panzer General is now available from Slitherine. Panzer Corps delivers all of the classic gameplay with all new graphics and a few new features. We’ve played a few scenarios and the game indeed captures all of the fun of the classic. The Wargamer posted a nice review of Panzer Corps. Whether you remember the classic or missed it, if you like a good game check it out.
The Wargamer also has a nice After Action Review of Panzer Corps scenario Operation Husky.
Also available now are grand campaign add-on packs: Grand Campaign ’39, Grand Campaign ’40, Grand Campaign ’41.
[Updated: 23NOV11]
Blue Moon Manufacturing 15mm Sci-Fi — Review
As we have noted in our annual Best Games Not Yet Published, Critical Mass Games, Ground Zero Games, Rebel Minis and Khurasan Miniatures have all been producing some outstanding 15mm sci-fi miniatures over the past few years. With the new release of the Galactic War 1 15mm sci-fi miniature rules by Blue Moon Manufacturing we became aware of yet another 15mm manufacturer. We decided to take a look at the new rules as well as some of the miniatures.
Galactic War 1 Rules
We have only given the Galactic War 1 rules an initial read through. The rules are not bad by any means but if you are looking for innovation or comprehensive options you will need to go elsewhere. On the positive side what you get is a solid set of company level rules with some background fluff on the seven races of the game’s universe. The game scale is 100 yards per inch and each infantry stand is a fireteam and vehicles are based individually. The rules offer plenty of basics such as initiative based movement as well as spotting and command. Galactic War 1 covers infantry and vehicle combat and even handles things such as psychic combat, jump troops and more. Read the rest of this entry »
Spartan Games News — July 2011
Spartan Games is on a real tear this month with new releases and a ton of announcements. To launch it all they completely redesigned their website with a very attractive design that showcases their products well.
Dystopian Wars
First off are the release of the first Dystopian Wars ground forces. Each of the major factions get an Armoured Battle Group plus each unit type is available as separate platoon packs as well. On the naval side new support ships released for each faction such as the Prussian Stolz Class Destroyer. We even got our hands on the big boys with each faction receiving a new Dreadnought class ship. The DNs are truly huge and are about 50% larger than even the impressive battleships. Our favorite of course is the Prussian Blucher class DN. If all of that was not enough Spartan announced the imminent release of the ‘specials’ for each faction including the Prussian Metzger Robot (including both submerged and walking versions), Britannia Vanguard submarine (including both submerged and surface versions), Blazing Sun Ika Class Mechanical Squid (including both submerged and surface versions), and FSA John Henry Class Robot.
But by far the biggest announcement that sent every Dystopian Wars fan into a frenzy was that of the forthcoming Covenant of Antarctica forces. Spartan pulled out all the stops and is releasing a full Naval Battle Group, Drone Fleet Carrier and the Armoured Battle Group all at once. The Antartican design is very sci-fi and fits well with their fluff as the most technologically advanced of all the factions in the game. To top it all off the Naval Battle Group box also ships with a 40-page army guide that includes all of the background, rules and stats for the Covenant of Antarctica forces (also available for separate purchase). And there is even more Antarctican goodness to follow!
Even the boys from the D6 Generation get in on the act and interview Neil Fawcett about Spartan activities and also give a look at how the Dystopian Wars ground forces play goes. Neil makes a surprise announcement that the long awaited Republique of France (RoF) Magenta Class Battleship will be available (in both waterline and flying versions) in limited quantities at Gen Con 2011 and available for all later this year. Craig surprises everyone by revealing that he is now working for Spartan Games as a freelance writer and that he was responsible for all of the great Firestorm Armada fluff on the Spartan site and is now working on more goodies. See Episode 83 and fast forward to 3hr 3min to get right to it.
Firestorm Armada
Spartan has not forgotten Firestorm Armada either. First off we got the new Xelocian ships. The Hantari Cruiser does not have colored ‘power rods’. They are the same clear plastic rods used for the flying stands. The advantage of course is now you can ink them your preferred color.
Then Spartan stopped playing 
around and decided to simply dump all available resin into one model and previewed the upcoming 9″ Perditor Leviathan model. But I guess the mold overflowed a bit so they decided to release Dreadnoughts for all six fleets as well! They also previewed the Directorate Persecution Class DN.
As mentioned, Craig worked on some FA fluff so we would guess we could expect some more of the same and possibly even a new FA book of some kind — Perhaps the previously hinted at Alliance army book? Maybe Russ and Raef can get some info out of him with Neil safely overseas ensconced in his island fortress!
Invasion
If all of that was not enough to deplete your wallet then Neil gave some hints that the new FA-era ground combat game, Invasion, may be released in late 2011 or early 2012.
[Updated: 1UAG11]
Combat Mission: Beyond Normandy — First Look
Battlefront.com released Combat Mission: Beyond Normandy in mid-May. We have had a chance to spend a little bit of time with it since then. For those who have been waiting for a redo of the classic CM the good news is the worth is not only over but was well worth it. The game delivers the play that Combat Mission fans would expect. The new graphics engine is very nice and rivals that of third-person shooters from just a few years ago. The game engine seems equally as solid and our initial games have gone well with no glaring issues.
The detailed spotting and artillery rules are probably the only major changes that veterans will notice right from the start. Otherwise players will be able to jump right in and feel at home. As with the modern-day CM titles both the play and pause and turn-based play options are included. For old and new players alike there is a detailed manual that does a good job of explaining the rules and even includes an introductory walk through to get players into the action quickly.
Scenario selection is good but not great. The game includes 21 scenarios and five campaigns. Hopefully scenario packs will be forthcoming. Of course there is a battle generator as well as a full blown scenario builder included so players are certainly not stuck for new adventures by any means and fan built scenarios will certainly be on the way.
If you have any interest in WW2 tactical combat this is a must get title. And now even Mac owners can get in on the action. Well enough wasting time here we’re gonna get back to it!
Incursion SNAFU — Review
Grindhouse Games’ first expansion for its weird-war WW2 board/miniatures game is now available. SNAFU is a 64-page softcover book that includes new units, new missions, painting guides and an official FAQ. The book follows the Incursion rulebook style and continues the high design and pulp feel of the original game.
Released separately are a host of new miniatures that cover the new units in the book. But as always if you do not want to play the game with miniatures standups are also included (this time as a download only). The Allies get the official release of the MI-13 rules along with new rules and miniatures for Bazooka APE, Zip Kelly and Gracie. The Germans get some new Sturmzombies, the evil Drohne, and the massive Panzeraffe. Rules are provided for all of the new units and their weapons. The stat cards are a separate download and are not included with the book.
The Panzeraffe is a huge model and even makes the Gracie walker look a tad small. The Panzeraffe can be kitted out for shooting or close combat and Gracie can stomp over units as easily as it can gun them down. Both Zip Kelly and the Drohne represent the lighter but more nimble choices. Overall the new units are a welcome addition to the game and will add to a player’s tactical choices.
The meat of the expansion is certainly the new missions. SNAFU includes nineteen new missions in all including six solitaire missions as well as three two map missions. You will need the map expansion or an extra copy of the game to play the larger missions. The Cinematic missions include a couple pages of the needed rules for solitaire play. This is a nice addition to the game and allows for some unique forces. The mission selection overall is a nice mix and, especially when combined with the new forces, increases re-playability considerably.
Rounding it all off are a few pages of painting guides including color recommendations and also a complete FAQ for the rules to date. All-in-all if you have any interest in Incursion this is a must get expansion. If you thought the re-playability of the original was a bit limited this also solves that problem. New meat for the Grinder!
The View from the Turret 
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